Why Did the Indian Government Suspend Telegram Services Ahead of NEET 2026? Here's What You Need to Know!

Government's Justification for Telegram Suspension

In a recent move, the Indian government has defended its choice to temporarily halt Telegram services nationwide in light of the upcoming NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination. The Centre informed the Delhi High Court that the platform's structure and its repeated misuse for examination fraud left them with no alternative but to invoke emergency blocking powers as per the Information Technology Act.

In a brief affidavit submitted to the Delhi High Court, responding to Telegram's petition against the suspension, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) stated that the decision was made after exhausting all other options, including requests for the removal of illegal content.

The affidavit, filed by Mayank, a Scientist-E at MeitY, emphasized that the decision was not taken lightly and followed attempts to address the issue through less severe measures.

The Centre highlighted that Telegram had become a significant platform for the distribution of alleged NEET paper leaks, counterfeit examination materials, and cyber fraud, which posed a serious threat to public order and the integrity of the national examination system.

The affidavit noted, "This matter is both sensitive and deeply emotional for the student community, and any compromise on the integrity of the examination process affecting approximately 22 lakh students across India could lead to unrest and public disorder."

According to the response document, MeitY received a complaint from the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 21, outlining a coordinated fraud network operating on Telegram under names like "Re-NEET 2026" and "Paper Leaked NEET."

The NTA reported that the identified channels, groups, and bots had a collective reach of nearly 146,000 accounts, openly advertising access to examination papers for a fee.

During a meeting with Telegram officials on June 3, the platform acknowledged its challenges in proactively identifying channels involved in selling leaked papers and admitted that its anonymity features were being exploited by malicious actors.

The government asserted that Telegram had not taken sufficient proactive measures despite ongoing concerns raised over the years.

The affidavit quoted from the minutes of the June 3 meeting, stating, "The issue of illegal content dissemination has escalated, and the government can take strict action against the platform, as Telegram has consistently failed to control misuse effectively."

Defending the use of emergency powers under Rule 9 of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009, the Centre argued that there were no viable alternatives due to the rapid emergence of mirror channels, anonymous accounts, and automated bots.

The affidavit cited a Telegram channel named "NEET Mafia" with around 18,617 subscribers, alleging it was used to spread information about examination paper leaks and payment arrangements.

The Centre contended that each subscriber could potentially be involved in the unlawful activities being investigated.

The Union government also referenced reports from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), claiming that Telegram's technical features, including anonymity-enhancing tools and large-scale channels, posed significant challenges for law enforcement.

The affidavit stated, "Telegram's combination of large subscriber capacity, anonymity features, and ease of channel recreation creates a persistent enforcement challenge."

The Centre argued that content-specific takedowns were ineffective, as channels and bots could be recreated almost instantly.

The government emphasized that interim blocking under Section 69A was the only effective way to disrupt the cycle of instant recreation that Telegram itself acknowledged.

With the NEET re-examination approaching, the Union government stated that its primary concern was to maintain the integrity of the test and prevent any further controversies.

The affidavit concluded, "The government is committed to conducting the Re-NEET examination with full integrity, and any delay in blocking access could have resulted in mass student unrest and public disorder."

The Centre also argued that Telegram's commercial interests were secondary to the interests of over 22 lakh candidates scheduled to take the examination.

Telegram has challenged the government's decision to suspend its services until June 22 and disable its message-editing feature until June 30, claiming that these restrictions are disproportionate and negatively impact millions of users.

The Union government imposed these temporary restrictions ahead of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination set for June 21, citing concerns over alleged paper leaks and cheating networks.

The NTA has maintained that channel-specific takedowns and enforcement actions are insufficient to address the scale of the problem, as the re-examination follows allegations of question paper leaks during the original NEET (UG) 2026 examination held on May 3.